Bringing You All the Updated News of Buffalo's Past. Time Travel Through Buffalo History as Old News Becomes New Again. (2nd edition)

Sunday, August 14, 2011

The Busti Avenue Lighthouse

Range Light located at Busti & Niagara Street

Courier Express November 17 1931

Demolition of two old lighthouses which have outlived their usefulness has begun in Buffalo yesterday. One located at Niagara Street and Busti Avenue, is known as the Upper Range, and the other on the bird Island Pier near the foot of Massachusetts Ave., is called the Lower Range.

The Houses were erected around 1885, and were used to expedite the passage of lumber carrying craft through what was known as the Niagara Channel in the river. They have not been employed for that purpose since the Black Rock Channel, a short cut between Tonawanda and Buffalo, was built two years ago. The Strawberry Island and Grand Island lights now are used to guide navigation. The lighthouses were well known marks both to rivermen and motorists. They will be dismantled within two months.The 52 foot high Busti Street Range Light when dismantled, was transported by barge over to Grand Island by brothers Frank and Charles Fix. Before the completion of the Grand Island bridges in 1935, access to the island was by public ferry or private boat. The Fix brothers owned the Bedell House on Grand Island and most of the excursion and ferry boats running between the island and the mainland.They were reputed "rum barons" of the Niagara Frontier; one time fish pirates; owners of a score of boats, including two submarine chasers, a speedy motor craft and a $65,000 steel ferry; hated and feared; admired and liked--that's the Fix Brothers as they were known to thousands of Buffalonians and everyone along the Niagara from the Lake to the Falls. That is a story for another time.The Fix family later sold the Lighthouse to Mike Steffen, who used it as a trophy room adjacent to his house. The Steffen property and lighthouse were later incorporated into the grounds of The Buffalo Launch Club on Grand Island, where it stands today. Club members in the late 1990s completely refurbished its exterior. (see picture at bottom)

The Lower Range Light on the Bird Island Pier opposite the

Old Water Intake ~ photo from the Buffalo History Gazette collection circa 1905

About Me

Hello, I have always been fascinated by Buffalo's history and disappointed at how little of it was being told. Especially in regards to the waterfront. Over the last 25 years I have conducted hundreds of tours for people from all over the world, both on foot and on the water. I am proud to say The Historic Buffalo River Tours have become a classic in this city. I created a museum, meeting place and lecture hall in my family's former restaurant the Harbor Inn on Ohio St. and conducted my walking tours from that location. I now take all of this to a new medium online to reach out further into the world. Hopefully these tours have spurred curiosity and respect about what was here, what is here, and what can be here in the future, and inspired those not afraid to see the possibilities.